Voters on Tuesday picked one new member for both the Bentonville and Rogers school boards. Another board race in Rogers is headed to a runoff election.
Eric White won a three-way race for the Bentonville board's Zone 3 seat, earning 429 votes (55 percent). Incumbent Grant Lightle received 216 votes (28 percent) while former board member Beth Haney received 134 votes (17 percent). That's according to unofficial results released by the Benton County Election Commission late Tuesday.
Gentry millage passes
Gentry School District voters agreed to a 3.1-mill increase in their taxes Tuesday, with 250 voting for it (68 percent) and 118 voting against it (32 percent).
The money will support a $9.5 million bond for an addition at the intermediate school, a career and technical education building, electrical upgrades at Gentry High School and at the vocational agriculture building, and lighting and sound upgrades in the auditorium, according to the district.
The total school millage on property in the district will increase from 42.9 mills to 46 mills, with a mill representing one-tenth of a penny. The higher millage is expected to cost an additional $62 per year on real and personal property valued at $100,000.
Source: Staff Report
In the Rogers School District, a runoff election will be held Oct. 11 between Mitch Lockhart and Bob White to decide the winner of the At-Large, Position 6 board seat. Lockhart and White finished with 493 votes (47 percent) and 323 votes (31 percent), respectively. Caley Vo finished third with 225 votes (22 percent), according to unofficial results.
In another race in Rogers, Nathan Gairhan easily earned election to the At-Large, Position 7 board seat with 763 votes (79 percent), beating Mark Sparks' 208 votes (21 percent). Sparks announced in late August he was dropping out of the race, but that was after ballots already had been printed.
Bentonville, Zone 3
Eric White said he was "excited and grateful" for the support the community showed him.
"I'm just looking forward to getting to know the board members as a peer," White said. "I'm looking forward to connecting with them and getting into that role."
Lightle, an attorney for Wal-Mart, served on the board for four years.
"Obviously, I am disappointed in today's result. I wish the Board and the District the best of luck going forward," Lightle wrote in an email.
Lightle noted several accomplishments the board made during his tenure, including construction of West High School and increasing the district's reserve by 88 percent to a record $33 million.
He caused a stir last year when he pushed the district to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of classifications protected under the district's anti-discrimination policy. That proposal failed by a 4-2 vote following months of debate.
White, 47, works for Tyco as its Wal-Mart relationship team leader. He criticized Lightle for his proposal, saying it was a needless distraction that divided the community.
A pair of mailers, delivered to at least some Zone 3 homes in the past week, urged residents to vote against Lightle because of that proposal. The mailers didn't indicate who was responsible for them. White said he had nothing to do with the mailers.
Haney, 59, served on the Bentonville board from 2000 to 2012. She resigned so her daughter could be hired by the district.
Zone 3 is home to 8,664 registered voters and includes parts of north and central Bentonville and east Centerton.
Rogers, At-Large, Position 6
Lockhart, 48, and his wife, Valerie, have two sons. One is in college and the other is a junior at Rogers High School. Lockhart is a financial adviser and certified financial planner for Wells Fargo Advisors.
Lockhart said he's spent thousands of hours involved in various volunteer activities associated with the district. He's secretary for the Rogers High School Athletic Booster Club. He's also vice president of the Rogers Public Education Foundation board, which raises and distributes money for academic programs.
White, 62, worked as a teacher, coach and administrator for 39 years, 29 of which he spent in the Rogers School District. He retired this summer after 13 years as principal at Elmwood Middle School.
Elmwood, under White's leadership, received the Shannon Wright Award this year. The award is presented annually to an Arkansas school that demonstrates outstanding achievement in implementing the best middle-level school practices.
White's wife, Martha, works as a library aide at Heritage High School. The couple has two sons, both of whom went through Rogers schools.
All registered voters in the Rogers School District were eligible to vote in both races on Tuesday's ballot. There are 45,569 eligible voters in district.
NW News on 09/21/2016